Tell me why is it better to spend billions of dollars on government funded solar "farms" that destroy wild open spaces and will create all kinds of problems with our existing power grid by dumping large and sporadic amounts of electricity into a single point than it is to rethink solar use to a large scale small scale strategy?

Let me elaborate.

We have unused real estate to the tune of hundreds of thousands of acres that are usable for solar power right now. There is no development needed and the infrastructure to install solar panels and use the power produces are already in place.

This real estate i speak of are the millions of south and southwest facing roof tops in every state.

Large scale small scale entails installing solar panels on every one of these already suitable roofs and tying them all into the grid. This strategy solves the major problems with large scale solar farms mentioned earlier; the cost of building them, the spoiling of our empty wild lands and the power distribution problems. The real estate already exists and power would trickle into the grid in small amounts from many points rather than just one

Homeowners could receive tax credits for installing their own panels or they could lease their rooftops to the utilities or receive a discounted electric rate.

This solution is simple, cost effective and immediately implementable. That our so called leaders haven't thought of it illustrates their fixation on big wasteful and obscenely expensive projects that are doing nothing for us.

There are commercial and industrial buildings with roof space measured in acres. And with the new thin film solar panels, it would not add significant weight. As you stated, grid is already there, and no environmental damage from new roads.

Solar power catchin' on in Chile...Sun to keep Atacama Deserts grapes growing15 April 2012 - One thing not lacking in Chile's Atacama Desert is sunshine.

Being the driest desert on Earth, it boasts some of the highest levels of sunshine in the world. Here in the north of Chile, clouds appear on about 30 days a year at most. Such weather conditions, combined with huge stretches of empty land along the Pacific coast, should make it an ideal place to tap the sun for energy. Jose Miguel Fernandez says that the potential for solar energy in the Atacama is huge - and Chile needs to make use of it But solar panels are almost nowhere to be seen. So a small solar park in Copiapo Valley seems strangely lost among the orange-red hills and mountains of the Atacama.

It is operated by Subsole, one of Chile's major producers of fresh fruit, and its German partner, renewable energy company Kraftwerk. "We really wanted to tap into the opportunity that the Atacama Desert offers," says Jose Miguel Fernandez from Subsole, walking in-between the shiny panels that will harness the blistering sun above. "This project is in line with our commitment to the environment for future generations and a way to get other fruit producers to hopefully follow our path."

Copiapo is a green oasis in the desert, with Subsole's vineyards thriving thanks to a natural underground water reservoir. And to irrigate those vines, Subsole turns to the sun. Solar energy will help the firm to pump water during the day and then irrigate in the evening or at night.

The plant's energy capacity is only 300 kWp (kilowatt peak) - enough to power a 20-storey building - but Roberto Jordan, from Kraftwerk's subsidiary in Chile, says that it is the first working industrial-size installation in the whole of Atacama. And the desert, he adds, is capable of providing much more. "There is enough sun, there is enough land, so we should really explore further," says Mr Jordan.

Solar energy is symbolic. You can't squeeze enough electricity out of it no matter how much you want to fool yourself. Ever see a solar farm? It's the ugliest thing in the world next to a gigantic humming useless windmill.

Solar energy is symbolic. You can't squeeze enough electricity out of it no matter how much you want to fool yourself. Ever see a solar farm? It's the ugliest thing in the world next to a gigantic humming useless windmill.

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LOL. Hey Whitey, how is your new buggy whip manufacturing facility working out?

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